The Landing
Title: The Landing Players: Elizabeth Maxwell, Heather O'Leary, Martin Grace, and Jason Briggs Location: Visitor Mothership: Atlanta (Maine), Maxwell Ranch Synopsis: Time to put the big ship into its resting place, and go back home! LOG BEGINS '' Elizabeth Maxwell sits quietly somewhere near the main controls, watching the unchanging landscape over Maine, where the ship is now stopped. Martin Grace enters from the corridor. "Alright. I've made one last pass, and I'm no Mister Scott, but if there's any booby traps, I can't find 'em." He sets down Lucille. "Any word from the Powers That Be about landing?" Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little bit. "There are no booby traps, don't worry about that. We should be getting clearance any time now, in fact. Hopefully within the next hour or so." Martin Grace says, "What exactly do we plan to *do* with this thing?" Elizabeth Maxwell smiles and shrugs. "Well, pretty much everything loose we can clean out is ours. They mostly want the main ship, willing to give unlimited supply access for it. They want it dissected." Martin Grace says, "So, basically, we're interstellar carjackers. Like that movie with Nick Cage and Angelina Jolie." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs and rolls her eyes. "Not really. The situation is completely different. It's an enemy base and a military target. Seizing it for capture is a military action as such, more than a carjacking." Martin Grace looks at Elizabeth for a long moment. "So, basically," he says, without batting an eye, "we're interstellar buccaneers. Like that movie with Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara." Elizabeth Maxwell shrugs a little bit. "wouldn't know, haven't seen the movie." she smiles, and checks orbit idly. "Catching it and bringing it back was the easy part, getting everything off and home is gonna be the annoying part." Martin Grace laughs. "Your education is lacking if you haven't seen some of the great swashbuckling movies. Man, that's all my dad and Oliver and I used to watch when Ollie and I were kids. 'Robin Hood', 'Captain Blood', 'The Black Swan' — which is the one I meant just now — and, oh, God, 'Scaramouche'. What I wouldn't give for a good DVD copy of 'Scaramouche'. Best. Fencing. Ever." He moves to the nearest viewing location and peeks out at, well, the view. "I might even say nice things to Ham." Elizabeth Maxwell hmms and shrugs a little bit. "Ah, so older movies." she laughs a little bit and raises her eyebrows. "Maybe I'll look for them sometime…" She smiles. "Sadly, I'm not sure how soon that time would be, because finding a copy now would mean looking now when we're up north, or such. And with all the 'cheap' labor places seemingly in the war zone…" She shivers. Martin Grace nods. "I know. I know. I used to have great pirate video connections in China and the Philippines, but, hell, it's just not worth the favors I'd owe." Elizabeth Maxwell winces and nods a little bit. "Probably not. Especially at this point. It'd be dangerous for them to try delivering…" Martin Grace says, "Yeah." A pause. "So, basically, the idea is to just load up a few backpacks with whatever we can scrounge and trek home? Or am I becoming the human sled dog?" Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "Neither. We're taking extra fighters and squadships home with us, we'll be loading those, and possibly making multiple trips if we can do so safely." Martin Grace says, "How much the hell are we taking?" He eyes her now, curious. "I mean, other than weapons, what has this tub got that we *need*?" Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit and shrugs. "For one thing, we found something to dump the main computer's information into, for another, I intend to yank as much medical equipment as I can and figure out how much can be adapted to work on us, If we get the conversion chamber dismantled and taken with us, we can get the procedure for undoing them, from the ones who figured out how… That's on top of weapons, vehicles, and extra uniforms for covert missions. And I'm gonna look at the disguise equipment, they really do know some people's faces too well…" Martin Grace says, "Oh." He nods, digesting this. "I guess I hadn't thought of that. Which is why I come along as firepower, really, and not brains." Another nod. "Alright, so I should plan for a crap load of heavy lifting, is what you're saying." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "Not really. At least I don't intend to make you do all of it. I'll be poking the others if t hey try." Martin Grace says, "Good. Good." He looks around for a place to sit. "They don't have a water cooler or anything, do they?" Elizabeth Maxwell hmms a little bit and shrugs. "I'm not certain, I haven't looked." Martin Grace says, "No big deal," to Elizabeth. "I'll live until we touch ground." Elizabeth Maxwell smiles a little and nods. "Don't worry too much, the other people we brought along will be helping as well. Plenty of people to handle it…" Heather O'Leary says, "Elizabeth, or anyone at the Controls of the Mothership…. This is Heather, I'll be docking momentarily… Please don't shoot me." Elizabeth Maxwell says, "Acknowledged…" Heather O'Leary docks the Visitor Skyfighter #555 on Atlanta Mothership. Heather O'Leary has arrived. Heather O'Leary steps onto the Bridge, a slight smile on her lips. She moves towards the controls, "We ready to begin Landing Operations?" Elizabeth Maxwell glances over and nods. "Yes, we are. You ready to trust the translation program's accuracy that far? That's the real question. If it botches by even a fraction…." Heather O'Leary shrugs slightly, "Better I try to land than you…. I've been flying since… well, I was going to say before you were born, but that doesn't mean much, in your case…" She shrugs, "As long as the Altimeter and Speed Indicator works, we'll be fine. No need for anything else." Elizabeth Maxwell shakes her head. "You've been flying airplanes, which handle far differently than this thing does." she shrugs back. "But whatever…" Elizabeth Maxwell releases the controls of Atlanta Mothership. Heather O'Leary sighs softly, "Do you want to do it Elizabeth? If so… fine. Do it." Elizabeth Maxwell sighs back a little bit. "It would show a little bit of trust in me if you did. I'm just not entirely trusting of it. And I've actually witnessed the landing procedure before." Martin Grace watches back and forth, the two women. He makes no effort to volunteer to land. A man knows his limitations. He simply puts himself in a landing perch, and waits. Heather O'Leary smiles, "If you *want* me to land it, I will.. If you want to land it, do so…" She glances at Martin, "But the Martin looks hungry, dear… If he hasn't eaten since we raided this place, I don't blame him… So be a dear, and decide." She winks at Liz. Elizabeth Maxwell takes control of Atlanta Mothership. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles. "Just sit back and don't worry. Got the coordinates of the landing zone handy?" Heather O'Leary nods, "30 Miles West of the Atlantic Ocean, 3 miles south of the Canadian border." She pulls a map out of her pocket, and points to the location, "Right here…." Pete Forysthe says, "LA Resistance Group. Got your Mothership on the Scanners. Good to see you." Elizabeth Maxwell nods, tapping that up on the computer and starting to feed it in. She trusts the automatic pilot to a point… but not too high a point. "All right. I see… She moves it northward, at that point. "Now… just a matter of putting it on precise location, and keeping it from hitting anything near it. Computer can handle deceleration, but it has to be watched like a hawk, fine tuning position has to be done manually…" She looks very closely at the screen, and the stream of alien text overlaid above the map, and beside it. "mmmhmm…" Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "And right on Schedule…" She speaks into her radio. Heather O'Leary says, "Hey Pete… We are beginning landing procedure now… better have your Mothership back off a bit… two rookies at the controls." Martin Grace says, "You're not going to do anything corny like play Ride of the Valkyries as we land, are you?" Pete Forysthe says, "Copy that… but we'll stick it out where we are. Good Luck Folks." Elizabeth Maxwell smiles just a little at the radio, checking the other ship's location and making note of it. She slips the ship a little bit to the right, away from the other ship, as it lowers. "I'll lower it to below the other ship's altitude, then move it back over location when its just above the treetops…" Heather O'Leary nods, "The clearing Pete picked out should easily hold us…." She grins at Martin, "I could hum it for you, if you like… Or the Visitors have a recording somewhere…" Martin Grace says, "*Entirely* not necessary, I assure you." Heather O'Leary smirks, "All right… Next time than." She chuckles, than turns to watch Elizabeth closely. Elizabeth Maxwell glances back at Heather and laughs. "If the situation weren't so serious, I would've suggested pranking them with one of the voice changers." She grins a little, and watches the monitor again, then, slipping the ship closer to the zone, calling up the landing sequence. A circle overlays the map then, on close-up of the area, and she starts adjusting its position, locking it into place at the center of the zone. "Position locked…" Heather O'Leary smirks, "I don't think I want Pete's Fifth Columnists blowing this thing away…. this time." Martin Grace says, "Pete's Fifth Columnists. Sounds like a microbrewed ale." He looks around. "What did the final body count end up as, by the way?" Heather O'Leary shrugs, "I know we killed at least 400 with the Dust… another 30 or so had Laser Burns, 20 more had bullet wounds, and 10 others died of other wounds… so that is like, 460…" Martin Grace says, "Man, I only got twenty?" He laughs. "Dang." Heather O'Leary shrugs, "Well, there were some that we couldn't tell if they were Visitors or ground Reptile burgers. Not sure how many were just chewed apart…." Elizabeth Maxwell hmms a little bit. "Well, I got 3 anyway…" she smiles a little. "Wait, 4. Three during the main one, and that one later." Heather O'Leary shrugs, "I didn't count…." Martin Grace remains quiet for now. Elizabeth Maxwell keeps watching the scope, as the ship slides into position over the landing spot, and begins descending slowly. "Final landing procedures commencing now…" Heather O'Leary takes a few deep breaths, hating autopilots. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles a little, sensing Heather's nervousness. "Relax, honey…" she adjusts the position very slightly with manual controls, and squints at the readings next to the map on screen. "Just about…" She adjusts deceleration, slowing it. A few moments later, there's the softest bump, from the bottom of the ship. Martin Grace watches the descent eagerly now. Thirsty, hungry, and anxious to get stuff unloaded and underway. He taptaps one foot, humming idly. Heather O'Leary sighs softly, "That it? If so, I think I'll go see about getting the stuff we want Flown home…" Not to mention, she has a surprise she needs to take care of. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles and nods. "That's all. It's down…" she smiles a little bit. "We can start offloading, and taking stuff back now." Ham Tyler says, "We down? Or is that just the first hint that things might be going bad?" Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "We're down. Welcome to northern Maine." Heather O'Leary nods, "Good…" She smiles, "Shut her down?" Michael Donovan chuckles slightly. "I sure hope we aren't walking home from here." Heather O'Leary says, "We have a few Skyfighters and Squad Ships to get back home, so I imagine we'll fly, Donovan." Elizabeth Maxwell nods a little and smiles, typing into the computer quietly. She powers the ship down very gently, the sound of its engines below dying off as it shuts down. "Shutting down now." Heather O'Leary nods slightly, "Martin, want some food? Pete Forsythe has a team waiting, and they claimed they'd have the local McDonalds bring over a load of Big Macs for the Resistance Heroes…. To the victors go the spoils?" Martin Grace says, "I'll settle for some French fries for now. Big Macs make me gassy, and I don't think anyone wants to be locked in a squad vehicle with me in that condition." He rises. "But duty first. I'll start gathering equipment." Heather O'Leary shakes her head, "Actually, just grab that black case over there, and the one over there" She points to both, "They have Visitor Computers… Everything else is already loaded. I over saw that this morning." Jason Briggs says, "Heather, "Where are you at? I got lost in the ship" Elizabeth Maxwell glances over to Martin and laughs. "Uh… probably not." she keeps laughing for a moment, shaking her head. "Hmm… sounds good to have actual food. Was considering stopping at a Subway on the way back, initially…" Martin Grace says, in response to Briggs' transmission, "I am not going to laugh. I am not going to laugh. I am not going to laugh." Heather O'Leary says, "On the Bridge, Jason… But since we have landed, most of us will be returning home to California. I have a couple things to handle in New York, with Donovan and Dr. Parrish first though. Maybe with Elizabeth." Elizabeth Maxwell hmms a little bit at the radio, and laughs, herself. "Oh dear…" Heather O'Leary shakes her head slightly, "Crazy Ex Marine…." Heather O'Leary says, "Donovan, Doc Parrish, Want to meet me at SkyFighter 555? I can get us to New York, while the Skyfighters are offloaded, along with the Squadships we want to take home…" Elizabeth Maxwell glances back to Heather. "I'll just take one of the other fighters back to the ranch, unless you need me in New York…" Martin Grace says, "Please say you don't need her, because I can't fly one of the damned things." Heather O'Leary shrugs, "If you wanna come, you both can…" She shrugs, "Or not… I don't know if you want to be there or not… Otherwise, we send Ham and I go home…." Elizabeth Maxwell blinks a little and bites her lip. "Why, it going to be that bad, or that boring?" Heather O'Leary fakes a yawn, "Boring…." Heather O'Leary says, "Tyler, Change of Plans. Have Donovan fly you to New York… You and Dr. Parrish, I think I'll go back to the Ranch. We have a few LONG flights to get everything back to the Ranch…."" Elizabeth Maxwell smiles and snuggles Heather. "hmm… maybe we should go back and do other stuff, then." Heather O'Leary chuckles "Oh, I'm sure we can think of something…" Heather O'Leary moves towards the Hangar. You go to Outer Corridor Ring. You go to Hangar. Heather O'Leary says, "Anyone wanting a ride back to the Ranch, Squad Ship 189 and 567 are leaving in a few minutes." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little. "well, once we have the stuff together, we have to get the chamber up and running, and test it on Mika… less pleasantly, maybe you can talk sense into Polly… or maybe Mike can when he gets back…" she shivers. Heather O'Leary winks at Elizabeth, "I'll take one, you take the other?" She leans over and kisses Elizabeth deeply. "We'll handle all the messes when we get home…." Jason Briggs arrives from Outer Corridor Ring. Elizabeth Maxwell nods to Heather and smiles, kissing back. "Okay, honey…" Heather O'Leary moves towards Squad Ship 567 Visitor Squad Ship #189 The Visitor Squad Ship #567 undocks from this ship. Elizabeth Maxwell takes control of Visitor Squad Ship #189. Ham Tyler arrives from Outer Corridor Ring. Juliet Parrish arrives from Outer Corridor Ring. Michael Donovan arrives from Outer Corridor Ring. Martin Grace arrives from Outer Corridor Ring. Martin Grace sets down Lucille, and the boxes Heather requested. "Sorry about that. Not easy balancing all this crap." Elizabeth Maxwell smiles, starting the engines up. "It's okay… Better come up front once they're down…" She checks the controls, and starts tapping at the computer. "Undocking…" The Visitor Squad Ship #189 undocks from this ship. Martin Grace takes the seat as soon as things are strapped down and tucked away. He even rests Lucille in a strap, resting his shotgun across his lap, uncocked, as he takes a seat. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles, watching that. "You won't need a weapon on the flight, I'm hoping…" she pulls the clunky ship upwards. "locking in the autopilot, and engaging full safe engine speed…" You go to Maine Sky. You go to NE United States Sky. Martin Grace says, "I never 'need' one. But it's a comfort." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little and nods. "Ah… A comfort for you, anyway. On a flight at higher altitude, it makes everyone else nervous for the rapid depressurization that would follow it getting fired." Martin Grace says, "That's why there's no round loaded." Martin Grace says, "And I don't think even *I'm* strong enough to poke this thing through the windshield. Maybe, though." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit. "Ah…" she smiles, and watches the autopilot idly, hmming and nodding. "We'll be home soon…" You go to Northern United States Sky. You go to NW United States Sky. You go to SW United States Sky. Elizabeth Maxwell tenses up just a little bit. "Coming up on the edges of the dust zone…" You go to Northern California Sky. You go to Central California Sky. You go to Maxwell Ranch Front Yard. You go to New Barn. Elizabeth Maxwell touches it down quickly, after taking it off manual. "And here we are. Least we didn't run into anything bad…" Elizabeth Maxwell releases the controls of Visitor Squad Ship #189. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles. "Anyway, we're here, I'll have the others offload all the equipment and such, so you can relax a while." You go to Maxwell Ranch Front Yard. Elizabeth Maxwell slips out from the barn quickly, looking around. Lady barks, as it scents what was trained to be her master. Heather O'Leary smiles as Lady announces herself, "Happy Birthday, Elizabeth." Martin Grace arrives from New Barn. Heather O'Leary smiles as Lady announces herself, "Happy Birthday, Elizabeth." Elizabeth Maxwell blinks at a dog barking, jumping slightly, before hearing Heather. She runs over to Heather then and hugs tightly. "Thanks, honey!" She kisses gently. "So, does…" She pauses a little, and looks way down underneath the dog. "… she have a name?" Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "Her name, is Lady… She is… Well trained by a Marine friend of mine. To your scent." Elizabeth Maxwell blushes a little bit and snuggles. "Oh…" she hmms a little and smiles. "So what did you take with my scent, to train her with? Hopefully not a dirty sock…" she grins and snuggles. Martin Grace laughs. "Yee-gads, a pooch." Heather O'Leary shakes her head slightly, "Unwashed clothes… You might notice your second favorite shirt is missing?" She chuckles, "And other things. A Spare blanket. And there were a few other minorish things. She will follow any command you give her, that she understand, but I recommend against saying 'a-t-t-a-c-k' to her. Someone would get rather hurt… Elizabeth Maxwell scritches Heather and laughs. "Oh dear…" She snuggles tightly. "Fully trained to neutralize a target, huh?" She laughs a bit, leaning down and scritching the dog's ears, and smiling. "I remember in the year after the first invasion, I was always worried about riding near the neighbors place on the south. They had a huge Rottweiler, and I swear the thing almost seemed trained to charge at me when I got close to the property line at all…" Heather O'Leary nods slightly, "She'll be like that around people she doesn't recognize… a little. Just tell her 'Friend' and she will remember the scent. German Shepherds are a lot smarter than Rotts, which is why they are the main dog breed we use in the Marines…" Martin Grace eyes the critter for a few moments, then goes back to work helping unload equipment. Heather O'Leary points Lady towards Martin, "Lady. Friend." Elizabeth Maxwell smiles at the dog, scritching again, and stroking her fur beneath the jawline. "She's pretty big…" Lady runs over to Martin, and nudges him. She licks his hand Heather O'Leary nods, "Full grown, she'll be about 125-140 pounds… About 4 feet tall at the head… She's pretty darn close as it is to full grown." Elizabeth Maxwell winces a little bit. "140 pounds? That's, uh… more than I weigh. Quite a bit more. How well trained is she in terms of friendly greetings? Fully trained not to try jumping up on people?" She laughs a little then. "She'd knock me over if she did that…" Martin Grace pauses to pet the dog, and says "Let's have an understanding. You eat my steak, we're gonna have problems. You respect my food as mine, and I'll make sure you never go hungry. Deal?" Heather O'Leary nods, "See how she greeted Martin, or you for that matter? She just barked once. She won't jump on you, unless you ask. However, you will have to be sure you tell her she can not get on the bed, unless you mind a foot warmer?" Lady barks in what could be agreement with Martin, or just a friendly dog bark. Elizabeth Maxwell smiles and nods a little bit. "hmm… As long as she isn't shedding, I don't mind a foot warmer if you don't." She grins. "When she's shedding, though…" Heather O'Leary shakes her head slightly, "Very light shedding. Brush her out a bit, and she'll be fine." She glances over at Martin, "You never promised me that deal… And when did you make steak? That sounds good right about now…" Martin Grace looks up at the redhead. "Contrary to rumor, you don't have sharp pointy teeth, and you *do* have a voice. Deals like that, I don't need to make with other *people*. It's the lower life forms that get the warning. And it was a general rule, not a specific offer tonight. But I suppose, given the special occasion, I could run into town stealthy-like for some wine and some steaks." Elizabeth Maxwell laughs a little bit at Martin, glancing to Heather and laughing more. "mmm hmm…" She grins brightly then. "Mmm…" Heather O'Leary chuckles softly, "Why? I made sure we had some before we left….." Martin Grace says, "That was yesterday. I like mine so fresh I can identify the cow." Martin Grace says, "Anyway, I need to help unload stuff, for a bit." Heather O'Leary chuckles, "Well, considering I bought it from a Local rancher that had just slaughtered the cow that day….." Elizabeth Maxwell glances over at Martin, twitching /very/ slightly at that thought, but not saying anything, till Heather says that. "Hmm, ah." Heather O'Leary shrugs, "Although with the food I already snacked on, why waste a steak dinner… how about tomorrow night?" Martin Grace nods. "Tomorrow it is, especially since I may be beat after all this effort. See you all later." Heather O'Leary waves slightly, "Lady, come on. Leave Martin alone…" Elizabeth Maxwell smiles at Martin. "See you late.r Sleep well tonight…" Martin Grace says, "I will." He moves off. "You, too." Elizabeth Maxwell gives Lady the command to follow. She wags her tail and barks. Lady hurries away from Martin, slipping back over to Elizabeth and Heather. Elizabeth Maxwell slips over to Heather and snuggles happily. "So… what should we do now?" Heather O'Leary shrugs slightly, "I don't know… I could go talk to Polly… but I am not sure tonight is best for that…" She picks up Liz, "How about we go take a shower, Babe?" Elizabeth Maxwell smiles a little and snuggles. "Okay… Yeah, I suppose she's either asleep, or fuming enough that she won't be approachable any time soon." Heather O'Leary nods slightly. She carries her 'burden' into the ranch house. ''LOG ENDS Category:Log Category:RATED-PG-13